Refrigerator cabinet



c. H. STEENSTRUP REFRIGERATOR CABI-NET Filed Sept. 18, 1940 Fig.1.

Dec. 16, 1941. 2,266,617

I Inventor: Carl H, Ste ensrup,

Patented Dec. 16, 1941 REFRIGERATOR CABINET Carl, B. Steenstrup, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application September 18, 1940, Serial No. 357,265

7 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets.

The refrigerated compartment of a household refrigerator is usually maintained at an average temperature of approximately 40 F. to 45 F. for general refrigeration purposes. An average temperature within this range may be maintained in the refrigerated compartment by the convection currents of air set up therein by a cooling unit or a refrigerant evaporator located in the upper portion of the refrigerated compartment. In the usual refrigerator, best results are obtained by maintaining the temperature of the surface of the evaporator considerably below freezing as, for example, 20 F. During operation of the refrigerator, and as the air is cooled, a considerable amount of the moisture present in the air circulated in the refrigerated compartment is removed. Inasmuch as the evaporator surface presents the coldest surface in the refrigerated compartment, this moisture is deposited on the evaporator walls in the form of frost. When a door attached to the evaporator is employed to close the front end of the evaporator, the accumulation of frost may eventually build up to such an extent that operation of the door is obstructed. Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide an improved arrangement of the cooling unit and a door therefor which is simple in construction, and in which the aforementioned obstructing action of any frost accumulation on the cooling unit is minimized.

While the range mentioned above is satisfactory for the preservation of food in general, certain types of food such, for example, as meat and fish may be more satisfactorily preserved in a storage atmosphere having a lower temperature range. A storage atmosphere having a temperature range between 30 F. and 34 F. is more suitable for the preservation of meats and fish. Accordingly, many refrigerators of the domestic type are provided with a meat pan disposed immediately below the evaporator. It is another object of my invention to provide a new and improved support for such a food storage receptacle.

The space between one or both sides of the evaporator and the walls of the refrigerated compartment are frequently utilized for storage space by providing a shelf or shelves adjacent the evaporator. It is still another object of my invention to provide new and improve means for supporting such a shelf or shelves as well as the food storage receptacle.

The accumulation of ice on the walls of the evaporator has been referred to above. It has been customary to defrost the cooling unit or evaporator, when necessary, as by stopping operation of the refrigerating machine until the temperature within the refrigerated compartment rises sufficiently to melt the ice and frost or by operating the evaporator through a comparatively long defrosting cycle, as between lim- .ing onto the articles stored within the refrigerated compartment.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention'will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which 'Fig, 1 is a front elevational partial view of a refrigerator of the household type illustrating an application of the principle of my invention; Fig. 2.is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the details of the meat pan and shelf support shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a perspective enlarged view illustrating the method of supporting the evaporator door of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, I have illustrated a I refrigerator l0 provided with an evaporator ll.

-A food storage receptacle I3 is supported below the evaporator i l by. means of a support or frame l4 defining an opening for receiving the receptacle, the frame being supported from the walls of the food storage compartment as, for example, by means of a plurality of rods l5 attached at the upper end to the top wall of the refrigerated compartment and at the other end to the frame I .4. A closure member I2, carried by one of the ner liner l8 defining a food storage compartment l9. A door opening in the front wall of the cabinet is closed by a thermally insulated door It is another object of my invention to 20 suitably hinged to the cabinet [0. In order to cool the air within the food storage or refrigerated compartment I9, there is provided an evaporator or cooling unit H of any suitable type,

preferably disposed in the upper portion of the compartment i9. I have illustrated an evaporator, the open front end'of which is closed by a door or closure member l2. Below the cooling unit ii there is disposed a receptacle l3, such as a meat pan, comprising a lower food supporting member 2| and an upper cover member 22.

In order to support the receptacle, there is provided a support or frame It in the form of a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally extending track members Ma disposed along each side of the cooling unit and including a plurality of verticaliy spaced-apart ledges 23 in order to provide a plurality of selective vertical positions for the lower member it of the receptacle or meat pan. This selective positioning arrangement of the member it permits disposition of the pan according to the sizes of articles to be stored therein as well as providing means for choosing the amount of ventilation for the interior of the receptacle. In the form of my invention illustrated in the drawing, the members Ida comprising the frame M are supported from the top wall 24 of the compartment l9 by means of a plurality of rods l5, one of such rods being disposed in the vicinity of each corner of the evaporator H. The rods or supporting members 15 may be secured in any desired fashion. For example, the rods, as best seen in Fig. 2, have been secured to the members Ha by means of welding after being inserted through suitable openings in the laterally extending'flange l6 thereof. If desired, however, the rear rods may be eliminated and the frame supported from the rear wall of the refrigerated compartment, or the frame may be supported entirely from the inner liner.

In order to support the cover member'22 of the food storage receptacle I have provided a supporting member 25 having an inwardly extending flange 26 and an upwardly or vertically directed wall 21. The members 25 are secured to the laterally extending portion I6 of the members Na in any suitable manner as by welding, for example. In order to lend strength to the frame, the members 25 may be joined at the rear, as by a member 29, which may be an integral part of members 25. A member 30 having a vertically extending portion 36 and an inwardly extending portion 3| terminating in an oflset and inwardly extending portion 32 is pivotally supported from the front portion 28 and the rear portion 29 of the vertical wall 21 of the member 25 as by means of a'pin 33 extending through suitable openings in the end walls 28 and 29, respectively. The portion 32 is formed and constructed to have engagement with the inwardly directed flange 26 and is offset with respect to the portion 3| a sufficient distance to provide a substantially horizontalsupport for the cover member 22.

In some cases, it maybe desired to invert the cover portion 22 and use that member for the storage-of frozen molds, ice cubes, or perhaps bottled goods or, in some cases, for receiving the drip water during defrosting. To permit this arrangement the cover member 22 andthe members 3| and 32 are so dimensioned that the cover member 22 when inverted will be received between the cdnnecting portions 34 joining the inwardly extending portions and I2.

' engaging the lower edge of the door.

The portions 36, provided to limit the lateral movement of, the cover member 22 when used as a cover, extend longitudinally of the cover member on each side thereof and are integral with or may be suitably secured to the upper surface of the portions 3| in any suitable manner as by welding, for example. In order to defrost the evaporator II when a predetermined amount of ice has accumulated on the surfaces thereof, I contemplate removing the cover member 22 and moving the hinged or pivotal portion 30 of the frame ll from the position shown in the full line of Figs. 1 and 2 to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. In this position any water or ice falling from the sides of the evaporator H will strike the tilted member and guide such material onto the inwardly directed flange 25 of the member 25 and thence into the lower member of the food storage receptacle which may be removed by sliding the parts thereof outwardly through the door opening of the cabinet.

Engagement between the guide means and the vertically extending portion 27 serves to locate the guide means in the defrosting position and, as previously explained, the engagement between the inwardly directed portion 26 and the inwardly directed portion 32 serves to locate the guide means in the cover holding position.

The door or closure member I2 is suitably supported from one of the vertically extending rods l5 as indicated in Fig. 3., I may provide a spring 38 for biasing the door l2 to its closed position. In order to vertically position the door 42 for closing the opening in the front 'of the evaporator ll I have illustrated the use of a collar 39 I have provided a pair of shelves H in the space between the meat pan'and the side walls of the compartment IS. The shelves may be of any desired construction such, for example, as having a marginal edge formed of suitably-sized wire and indicated by the numeral Ml and a plurality of longitudinally extending wires 4! to provide an article supporting surface. The shelves H are supported slidably and removably along one side thereof by means of suitable members 42 secured to the side walls of the food storage compartment and on the other side by means of the horizontally extending portions l6 of the frame M. The vertically extending wall 21 of member 25 cooperates with members 42 to limit the lateral movement of the shelf l1.

Under some circumstances water tends. to drip from the evaporator unit during the normal refrigerating cycle. In order to take care of such dripping or in case defrosting takes place without being initiated by the user of the refrigerator as during a power failure, the upper surface of the cover member 22 may be depressed, as indicated by the numeral 43. The rear marginal edge of the cover member may be notched as indicated by the numeral 44 so that any water falling on the surface of the cover member will be directed downwardly over the rear wall of the cover into the lower member 2|. 6 The portion or wall 29 will prevent any such water from dripping onto articles in the lower portion of the compartment l9. v

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a refrigerator of the type comprising a I said cooling element, means for supporting said receptacle from the top wall of said inner liner, closure means for closing the opening in said element, and means for'supporting said closure means from said supporting means.

2. In a refrigerator of the type comprising a thermally insulated cabinet having an inner liner defining a food storage compartment, a cooling element having an opening at the front thereof, a food storage receptacle disposed below said cooling element, means for supporting said receptacle from the top wall of said inner liner, closure means for closing the opening in said element, and means for supporting said closure means from said top wall.

3. In a refrigerator of the type comprising a thermally insulated cabinet having an inner liner defining a food storage compartment, a cooling element having an opening at the front thereof, a food storage receptacle disposed below said cooling element, means for supporting said receptacle, said means including a frame having an opening for receiving said receptacle, means for supporting said frame from the top wall of said inner liner, closure means for the open end of said element, and means associated with said supporting means for supporting said closure means.

4. In a refrigerator of the type comprising a thermally insulated cabinet having an inner liner defining a food storage compartment, a

cooling element having an opening at the front 5. In a refrigerator having a food storage compartment, a cooling element having an opening at the front thereof, a food storage receptacle disposed below said cooling element, means for slidably and removably carrying said receptacle, said means including a frame and means for supporting said frame from the top wall of said compartment, closure means for said open ing in said cooling element, means for carrying said closure means from said supporting means. shelf means, and means for supporting said shelf means adjacent said frame, said frame being constructed and arranged to serve at least in part as said shelf supporting means.

6. In a refrigerator having a food storage compartment, a cooling element having an opening at the front thereof, a food storage receptacle disposed below said element, said receptacle comprising a lower food supporting member and an upper cover member, means for slidably and removably carrying said receptacle including a frame, said frame comprising a first portion arranged for supporting said lower member and a second portion arranged for supporting said cover member, said second portion being hingedly associated with said frame whereby said second portion may be swung to an outwardly extended position for guiding moisture and ice incident to the defrosting of said element into the lower member.

7. In a refrigerator having a food storage compartment, a cooling element having an opening at the front thereof, a food storage receptacle disposed below said element, said receptacle comprising a lower food supporting member and an upper cover member, means for slidably and removably carrying said receptacle including a frame, said frame comprising a. first portion arranged for supporting said lower member and a second portion arranged for supporting said cover member, said second portion being hlngedly associated with said frame whereby said second portion maybe swung to an outwardly extended position for guiding moisture and ice incident to the defrosting of said element into the lower member, and means for locating said second portion in its cover holding position and also its guiding position. CARL H. S'I'EENSTRUP. 

